Mixed fortunes for the Loughborough Town teams

Birmingham University Men’s 2nd XI 2 Loughborough Town Men’s 2XI 0 LOUGHBOROUGH Town headed to Birmingham university off the back of some strong performances against Cannock and Harbourne. Despite Birmingham being firm favourites it was Loughborough who started strongest. Good pressing by Matt Parry, Lewis Ratcliff and the returning Pete Fitton won the ball in midfield and Parry beat one man before grazing the post with a decent effort. Moments later parry was in again but was denied by a foul from the keeper. The resulting corner was send narrowly wide. Unfortunately for town these chances seemed to spark Birmingham into life. They started to dominate possession but were repelled by strong defence from Hits Patel, Mant Lad and David Otterwell. Even when they did break through Towns keeper Vishal Dhuita was in inspired form saving everything they could throw at him. After 25 minutes Birmingham did find a way through a sloppy pass from the back which was intercepted and with an overload Birmingham managed to move the ball round Dhuita and into the net. A positive team talk at half time had town back at it early on in the second half. Town held Birmingham well and made use of the limited possession they were allowed with quick counter attacks. Having conceded a penalty corner town went two behind as a Birmingham forward hit a reverse into the bottom corner after the first shot was blocked. To towns credit they carried on and created good chances for Ratcliff on two occasions and also Gav Guest. Birmingham continued to ask questions but were denied time and time again by goalkeeper dhuita. The game ended 2-0 with Vishal Dhuita winning a unanimous man of the match. Town now welcome Beeston for another tough clash at home next week. Loughborough Town Men’s 1st XI 2 Bourneville Men’s 1st XI 2 ANOTHER weekend of hockey saw Bourneville visiting the Loughborough town fortress. Being unbeaten at home in 2017 and unbeaten so far this season, Town were confident of another good day. Things started brightly on the EHB pitch with Town quickly slipping into their usual style of passing hockey. Consistent pressure and a fast pace were too much for Bourneville, and town took an early lead through Mike White, pouncing on a rebound and flicking the ball into the side netting. Town maintained the pressure throughout the first half but we unable to increase their lead. After a positive half time team talk, Town returned to the pitch wanting to push on and take the game away from their opposition. Bourneville however had different plans and equalised early on. Un-phased, town quickly got back into their rhythm, and with Steven Hunter (MOM) pulling the strings from midfield another goal felt close. Nick Morris found himself in unfamiliar territory at the edge of the opposition D. as he ferociously wound up to strike the ball towards goal White stepped in front of the Bourneville keeper and turned the bobbling strike neatly into the corner of the goal. Despite having played all the hockey, Town could not put the game to bed, and found themselves hanging on to their lead in the last few minutes. Excellent defending from Guy and Holloway was not enough to keep Bourneville at bay and Town conceded in the last play of the game to take a disappointing draw. Loughborough Town Men’s 3rd XI 1 Birmingham University Men’s 3rd XI 6 BIRMINGHAM Uni 3rd XI, not a team to be sniffed at. Well drilled and fit as a team of 11 Mo Farahs, the reputation of this team possibly scared towns 3rd XI as their start was shaky and within 5 minutes they were 1-0 down following an early short corner. This early goal helped warm the blood of captain and centre back Rory Cook as he and defensive partner Mark Dalby stepped up and started making some bone shattering flat stick tackles. The pressure was relentless however, with 21 players camped in the town half of the pitch for long spells of the 1st half and 2 more Birmingham goals before half time. It would have been 4-0 were it not for Will Banfield’s heroic headed goal line clearance, which resulted in him spending 5 minutes on the side line getting intimate with an icepack. The second half saw Birmingham take their foot off the peddle slightly giving Loughborough Town space to express themselves some more. The fear of the first half was gone and Rory Cook sent some well-placed aerials slithering between the opposition’s midfield and defensive lines which, when teamed with the excellent posting up of the forward three of Oli Jephcott, Jono Griffiths and Arun Mistry saw towns score a goal of similar quality to the one scored a week ago against Olton. James Lamb was lost to a knee injury however and the oppositions’ quality shone through again seeing them score 3 more second half goals leaving the match 6-1 when the final whistle went. Leicester Ladies 4th XI 0 Loughborough Town Ladies 1st XI 8 HOPING to continue their perfect start to the season, Loughborough Town Ladies 1s travelled to Leicester Grammar school on Saturday to face Leicester 4s. The first ten minutes of the game saw Town struggle to get into their natural rhythm. Although Town were clearly the stronger side, they were frustrated as a youthful Leicester team packed their defensive D and surrounded any Town player as soon as they received the ball. Camped in Leicester’s half, Town began to get strong shots off on goal; Rebekah Ferry, a recent recruit for the ladies went agonisingly close, forcing Leicester’s keeper to parry the rising ball away from danger. Minutes later, Leicester’s defence was finally foiled, with a smart passage of passes between forwards Emily Hill and Gee Godfrey allowing Godfrey to slot the ball low into the corner for the 1-0 lead. Town were energised and their persistence earned their first short corner of the game. Gee Godfrey’s forceful shot from the top of the D found the outstretched stick of injector Shana Featonby who coolly deflected the ball high into the net of Leicester goal for Town’s second. Hill then connected with a perfectly weighted baseline ball from Rachael Taylor to deflect in Town’s third and minutes later added her second with a fantastic solo reverse effort from close range. Although the fast pace of Leicester’s many junior players did see them break away on the counter attack a few times, Town’s defence stayed calm and the inexperience of the opposition showed, with their final balls lacking in quality. Keeper Harriet Galpin remained untroubled and the score remained 4-0 at the half-time whistle. The second half started much like the first; Leicester’s congested defence making it difficult for Town. Nevertheless, Lucy Walden on her first appearance for Town, Annie Piper, Ash Godfrey and Abi Jewkes worked tirelessly in midfield to provide service for the forwards and were rewarded when they found a Leicester foot inside the D. A pinpoint straight strike from Gee Godfrey found the backboard and added Town’s fifth. Town’s sixth came again from Godfrey completing her hat-trick and man-of-the-match performance – picking up the ball at the halfway line, she dribbled past 4 Leicester players before slotting the ball around the keeper. Emily Hill also completed her hat-trick; finding space in the crowded D to smash the ball past the stranded keeper. Town sealed their emphatic win with an eighth goal from the tireless Ash Godfrey, clearly not wishing to be outdone by her sister; weaving between multiple Leicester players, Godfrey completed the fantastic solo effort with an incredible strike. Though Leicester’s youth showed as Town’s legs began to tire, their attempts at attacking were fruitless. In the dying seconds Town, still could have added more - the relentless Hill produced a brilliant run but her effort on goal narrowly blazed past the far post – the final score was an impressive 8-0 to the visitors. To cap off the afternoon, other results see the ladies go two points clear at the top of the Leicestershire Premier League in their hunt for the elusive promotion slot.